Sheet holding device



Nov. 15, 1949 G. D, us m ET 2,487,779

SHEET HOLDING DEVICE Filed June 5, 1946 GERALD D. AUSTIN MICHAELWiSHNOVSKY Patented Nov. 15, 1949 UNITED STATEEl he i. .r"

TENT OFFICE SHEET HOLDING DEVICE Gerald D. Austin, Atlanta, Ga, andMichael Wishnovsky, Yeadon, Pa.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 376Q. G. 757) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a holding device, and more particularly to asheet holding device for holding charts and drawings or other sheetmaterial of considerable length in unrolled condition upon a supportingsurface or table.

An object of the invention is to provide a sheet holding device thatwill hold sheet material of .substantial length in unrolled or spreadout condition when in use and which is readily raised and which willstay in raised position when de sired.

Another object is the provision of a, device for holding sheet materialor the like, which is movable to variable height depending on the numberof sheets placed thereunder.

Still another object is to provide a sheet holding device wherein theholding means will maintain a substantially level plane in relation. tothe work being held and, therefore an even distribu-- tion of pressureis obtained regardless of the elevation of the device due to difierentthickness of material being held.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sheet holdingdevice of simple, sturdy, construction which will exert an even holdingpressure at all points of the holding means on material on theunderlying surface.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description taken inconnection with the drawings which are exemplary and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a detail.

The invention comprises a sheet holding device to be attached to oradjacent a work table or any other desired Work holding surface, Theinvention has particular utilit in retaining in readily accessibleunrolled condition, sheet material such L bolts, or the like. Positionednear the top of upright is a hole of any suitable diameter extensinglaterally therethrough, the holes in the two uprights being inalignment. In these holes is rotatably mounted a shaft 2, the shaftbeing free to turn or rotate in either direction within the holes in theuprights. The shaft has fixedly mounted thereon as by welding and atsubstantially 90 thereto an arm member 3. The arm member is sopositioned relative to the shaft as to extend beyond the shaft on oneside thereof and to extend beyond the shaft on the other side to overliethe material supporting surface A. The longer extension of the armoverlying the surface A is turned down at its outer end formingapproximately a right angle, the turned down portion 4 being preferablyflattened in such a way that its flattened faces are in alignment withthe arm itself, and at 98 to the shaft.

The sheet holding means comprises a bar 5 in parallelism with the arm 3and preferably positioned with its center point adjacent the flattened,downward extending portion of the arm. The bar 5 is preferabl ofT-shape, having an upwardly extending flattened stem member 6 at 90thereto, the upwardly extending member being desirably so formed as toevenl fit face to face with the flattened downward extending portion ofthe arm. The downwardly extending portion 4 of the arm and the upwardlyextending member 6 of the bar are pivotally connected, the pivot 1 beingpositioned slightly below the mid point of the two members. The upwardlyeX- tending member or stem t of the bar preferably has thereon a lug orprojection to on its upper rear edge disposed to limit the pivotalmovement of the bar member in one direction by engagement with said arm.Pivotally mounted near each end of the bar 5 are elongated holdingmembers or fingers 15 mounted transversely to the bar. These holdingfingers are made desirably of metal, as are all of the members, and canbe made of any desired length or diameter. The lower surface of theholding fingers generally form a straight line, but may be formed asrequired to conform to the contour of the work holding surface. The endsof the fingers are turned up slightly and have mounted thereon balls illor any desirable means for rounding the ends for protecting the sheetmaterial from disfiguration. Afiixed to the fin gers are pivot supportmembers I! forming an inverted V, the peak of which is formed into ahollow tube i2 to act as a bearing on the bar 5. This pivotal member isretained against lateral movement b having a slot l2a extendin aroundabout onefourth the circumference of the bar receiving tube l2 and a setscrew or pin is extending through the slot and being threaded into thebar. Thus the fingers or holding members are pivoted on the bar but areafiixed to the bar to prevent lateral movement thereon, the pivotal Thisweight will act as a counter-balance and when the holding means islifted to a raised position the holding means is thereby retained inraised position.

In the operation of the sheet holding device, the device being attachedto the table or the like in any desirable manner by means of thebracket, it may readily be raised or lowered in respect to the surfaceof the table. When using the device the operator manually lifts theholding assembly to an up position. The counter-balancing means willthen hold the device in this up position. The sheets are then spread outon the table or bench below the holding means, the same then beingmanually lowered against the sheet material thus holding the sheetmaterial in desired spread out condition. Due to a change in the centerof gravity from the up to the down position, the counter-balance meanswill retain the holding member in an up position, but will not be suiii-1-,

cient to return the fingers from the down to the up position. Thereforethe device will remain in a down position until manually raised and theamount of the weight or other counter-balancing means may be adjusted toapply the desired pressure, which will be evenly applied and distributedby the device.

It will be apparent that the device may be adjusted so that the sheetmaterial is held in open condition while being readily removable frombeneath the holding members, either by manually raising the holdingmeans or by sliding the sheets laterally from beneath the holding means,for example, for application to an adjacent work unit such as aphoto-copying table or the like.

Although but one embodiment of the invention is shown and described, itwill be understood that the invention is subject to modification andvariation without departing from the spirit of the invention and is onlyto be limited by the appended 5 claims or the equivalent thereof.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government of the United States of America for governmental purposeswithout the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. In a holding device adapted to hold in flat, unrolled position sheetsof paper and the like upon a substantially flat holding surface, abracket having means thereon adapted for mounting said bracket on oradjacent to said material-holding surface, an arm pivotally mounted onsaid bracket for movement in a substantially vertical plane, said armextending laterally over said material-holding surface, a bar pivotallymounted on said arm adjacent the end thereof and adapted to oscillate ina plane parallel to the plane of movement of said arm, and an elongatedwork-engaging finger pivotally mounted transversely on said bar formovement in a plane normal to the plane of movement of said arm.

2. In a holding device adapted to hold in flat, unrolled position sheetsof paper and the like upon a substantially flat holding surface, a

bracket having means thereon adapted for mounting said bracket on oradjacent to said material-holding surface, an arm pivotally mounted onsaid bracket for movement in a substantially vertical plane, said armhaving one end extending laterally over said material-holding surface, abar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said arm adjacent saidlaterally extending end of said arm for free movement in a planeparallel to the plane of movement of said arm, and a plurality of spacedWork-engaging members pivotally mounted transversely on said bar formovement in planes normal to the plane of movement of said arm, therebeing between said work-engaging members unobstructed view of the sheetsheld by said members.

3. In a holding device adapted to hold in fiat, unrolled position sheetsof paper and the like upon a substantially flat holding surface, thestructure set forth in claim 2 in which said workengaging members aresuspended below said bar and extend laterally on each side thereof.

4. In a holding device adapted to hold in flat, unrolled position sheetsof paper and the like upon a substantially flat holding surface, thestructure set forth in claim 3 in which means are provided on said =barcooperating With said arm and with said work-engaging members to limitpivotal movement of said bar and said work-engaging members.

5. In a holding device adapted to hold in flat, unrolled position sheetsof paper and the like upon a substantially flat holding surface, abracket having means thereon adapted for mounting said bracket on oradjacent to said material-holding surface, an arm pivotally mounted,intermediate its ends, on said bracket for movement in a substantiallyvertical plane, said arm having one end extending laterally over saidmaterial-holding surface, a bar pivotally mounted intermediate its endson said arm adjacent said laterally extending end of said arm formovement independently of the motion of said arm in a plane parallel tothe plane of movement of said arm, and a plurality of workengagingmembers pivotally mounted transversely on and spaced longitudinally ofsaid bar for movement in planes normal to the plane of movement of saidarm, there being between said members unobstructed view of the work heldby said members.

6. In a holding device adapted to hold in fiat, unrolled position sheetsof paper and the like upon a substantially flat holding surface, a

bracket having means adapted for mounting said bracket on or adjacent tosaid materialholding surface, an arm pivotally mounted, intermediate itsends, on said bracket for oscillating movement in a substantiallyvertical plane, said arm having one end extending laterally over saidmaterial-holding surface and, during oscillation of said arm, movingtoward and away from said surface, a bar pivotally mounted, intermediateits ends, on said arm adjacent said laterally extending end of said armfor oscillating movement,

independently of the motion of said arm, in a plane parallel to theplane of movement of said arm, and a plurality of elongatedwork-engaging members pivotally mounted transversely on and spacedlongitudinally of said bar for oscillating movement in planes normal to:the plane of movement of said arm, said work-engaging members beingsuspended below said bar, extending substantially equal distances oneach side thereof, and there being between said members unobstructedview of the work held by said members.

'7. In a holding device adapted to hold in flat, unrolled positionsheets of paper and the like upon a substantially flat holding surface,a bracket having means adapted for attaching said bracket on or adjacentto said material-holding surface, an arm pivotally mounted, intermediateits ends, on said bracket for oscillating movement in a substantiallyvertical plane, said arm having one end extending laterally over saidmaterialholding surface and, during oscillation of said arm, movingtoward and away from said surface, the outer portion of said arm beingbent downwardly to provide a dependent angled extension, the other endof said arm extending outwardly from said material-holding surface inaxial alignment with said first-mentioned end and havingcounterbalancing means supported on its outer end, a bar pivotallymounted, intermediate its ends, on said dependent angled extension ofsaid arm for oscillating movement, independently of the motion of saidarm, in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of said arm, said barcarrying adjacent each of its ends, and pivotally mounted thereon, anelongated, transverse, work-engaging member adapted to oscillate in aplane normal to the plane of movement of said arm, said work-engagingmembers being suspended below said bar and each extending forsubstantially equal distances on each side thereof, said bar havingprojecting means cooperating with said dependent angled extension ofsaid arm for limiting oscillation of said bar in one direction, said armfurther having other projecting means cooperating with the mountings ofsaid work-engaging members for limiting oscillation of said members,said counterbalancing means being of such mass as to maintain saidworkengaging members raised from said work-holding surface but not toraise said members from workholding position, and there being betweensaid work-holding members unobstructed view of the work held by saidmembers.

GERALD D. AUSTIN.

MICHAEL WISHNOVSKY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,332,711 Cooper Mar. 2, 19201,680,891 Ledbetter Aug. 14, 1928

